Leader of Mexican drug-trafficking organization operating near the border is extradited to the U.S.

SEATTLE - On Sept. 4, Mexico's Attorney General's Office announced that the country was turning over to U.S. authorities a man accused of running a criminal cell in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that exported large quantities of methamphetamine to several American communities.

The suspect, only identified by his first name and last name initial (Jesus "M") was turned over to American law enforcement at the Mexico City International Airport.

Between 2015 and 2017, Jesus "M" was the leader of a criminal organization located in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. He allegedly supervised drug warehouses that sent large quantities of meth to the United States.

The suspect was arrested in the month of May in the Mexican state of Michoacan, and after courts agreed to his extradition, he was surrendered to U.S. officials in September.

Jesus M. is wanted on criminal conspiracy and drug trafficking charges in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the Mexican Attorney General's Office said.

In the state of Texas, distributing, manufacturing or possessing methamphetamine can carry heavy penalties and sentences. Punishments depend on the weight of materials, but manufacturing or delivery of one to four grams of meth serves from two to 20 years in prison. Larger quantities like 200 to 400 grams of meth would land someone a 10 to 99 sentence in prison.

Earlier this year, in July, Mexican authorities handed over to U.S. officials another high-profile criminal in Rodrigo Omar Paez Quintero, the nephew and alleged associate of jailed drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, co-founder of the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel.

Paez Quintero was arrested in the state of Jalisco back in April 2023 and accused of leading a a drug-trafficking organization based in Caborca, Sonora. He allegedly supervised a series of unlawful activities, including laundering money for the Caborca cartel between 2017-19.

A Mexican judge authorized Paez's extradition last year, but he contested the order and exhausted his appeals in July of this year. One of his arguments against being extradited to the United States was because of the "well-known human rights violations that Mexicans suffer when being held in an American prison."

The cooperation with extraditing alleged criminals has been a common practice between both North American countries for more than two decades.

According to the independent, member-supported nonprofit news organization El Paso Matters, official records show Mexico extradited 1,389 people to the U.S. from 2000 until June 1, 2022. Out of those, two of every five causes occurred during former President Felipe Calderón's Mexican Drug War. Out of the most notable extraditions in recent years are the ones of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in 2017 as well as one of his sons, Ovidio Guzmán, in 2023.

The most recent case came earlier this week, as The Latin Times reported that former Guld Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas is set to be extradited from the U.S. to Mexico after serving a 14-year sentence at an Indiana prison. Cardenas faces pending charges in Mexico.